Received
by AriadneIS
Summary: Sequel to Remember. That night, Julian gave up everything- again- to save her. But who recieved his gift? You must read Remember to fully understand this one!
1. Power

**Hello! I'm back! By general tally of messages, it looks like I'm doing a sequel. Warning, though – you must read _Remember_ for this to make sense to you!**

**Disclaimer – I am definitely not L.J Smith. I gain no profit from this, and own nothing that would make it worth your time to sue me! So please please please don't!**

Jenny gasped as she woke, sticky with sweat and clutching her blanket with both hands. She waited for her breathing to slow, looking around at her darkened room.

The place in her chest, separate from her heart, thrummed as the July midnight slipped into her room. It had been doing that ever since the night everything changed.

_As she had held him, the last of the fading light brushed over her arms. It tingled; giving a feeling of pure, strong power that slipped up her arms and settled in her chest._

It had been there ever since.

She hadn't told Julian this. Jenny didn't understand it herself. But she knew that it was dangerous.

Too dangerous.

Rolling over, she tried to go back to sleep, but the humming inside of her was too strong. Sighing in annoyance and even fear, she got up and stared out her window. It was all dark, all full of sultry quiet. Something inside of her sang.

"Jenny?"

She whirled around to see her brother. "What?" _How could you interrupt me?_

"I…I had a nightmare," he said weakly.

"So?" She glared.

He backed away. "Never mind…" She bared her teeth, suddenly wheeling and blocking the door.

"What are you doing in here?"

"I…" the nine-year-old's eyes were wide.

"Get. Out." Jenny growled, and the sound was like nothing she'd ever heard. "Get OUT!"

Joey pushed past her and through her door, shaking. She watched him go, and then collapsed onto her bed.

_Oh, God. What have I done? _She looked at herself in the dim moonlight. _What have I become?_

The space over her heart hummed.


	2. Storm

**I own nothing! As usual. **

**Reviews make my day. **

The next morning, Jenny slept for hours into the day. The bright sunlight hurt her eyes. She only opened them when she felt gentle lips brush her face.

"Julian," She sighed gently. "There you are."

He laughed. "Have I been gone so long?"

"Feels like it to me." She wrapped her arms around him with a contented sigh. Then a ray of sunlight struck her across the face. She scowled.

"What is it?" He gently smoothed her brow with his hand.

"Nothing." The sky promptly clouded over, and the glare reduced itself. Much better. Julian blinked in surprise, sitting up.

"Did you do that?"

"Do what?" Whatever she had done, it had made him move away. Bad idea.

"That. You just…"

She pulled him back. "Shh!" And silenced him properly with her lips.

Breaking for air, Jenny smiled. He still looked preoccupied, but she could fix that.

~0~0~0~0~

When he finally left – with a promise to return soon – Jenny pulled on real clothes and walked through her empty house. The kitchen clock claimed that it was almost noon.

Picking up a glass cup, she fingered it absentmindedly. It seemed to sing with the pressure of the blood in her hand.

She wondered what would happen if it broke. Her chest thrummed.

She could see just where she would apply gentle force. Until it shattered into tiny, dangerous shards.

Suddenly, the phone rang. _What?_ Jenny felt as though she was surfacing from being underwater.

It rang louder, and she crossed the room to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Jenny!" cried Audrey's voice on the other end. "What's up? Are you free yet? 'Cause Summer and I wanted to go to the mall, _d'accord_? And you know no one's even allowed to VISIT you besides Julian. So it's about time you came out into the world!"

Audrey kept going, apparently disregarding the lack of response. Jenny found herself incredibly irritated. "No thank you, Audrey."

She tutted. "What's the matter, Jenny? PMS? _Non_, probably not. I know! Julian withdrawal! Only one thing to do about that!"

"Audrey! I don't want to go to the mall!"

Her friend sighed. "Fine. I'll call later."

She slammed down her phone. Why were they all being so immature and annoying? Besides Julian, of course. She looked out at the mist that had rolled in. Somehow… it wasn't what she wanted to see. A few thunderheads gathered in the west, over the ocean.

A good storm would be nice.

Jenny turned her face towards the power of the wind.

And it was then that the lightning started to flash.


	3. Strength

**Again, I am not L.J. Smith. I claim to own nothing!**

**Reviews are nice.**

Jenny stayed in her yard for hours. Her hair blew around her face. Her green eyes were tilted up to the furious power.

Sometimes, she laughed an insane laugh as rain pooled around her feet.

Something deep, deep inside of her nudged her. _This isn't right, _it said. _You don't like this. _She ignored it.

A flash of pure lightning raced across the clouds. Jenny wondered what it would feel like if she touched it. Would it burn her?

But she wasn't at all prepared for the sudden glimmer of electricity that did touch her_._

Power, tingling and racing, was flying over her entire body. No – she was flying over _it_. Jenny screamed, although there was no pain. It was a scream of pure exhilaration, as her body arched, lifting off of the ground. She was the storm. The storm was her.

And then it stopped. Jenny was as clearheaded as she thought she could be, under the circumstances. She was shaking on the grass.

_This isn't right. I can't do this. I shouldn't be _able_ to do this! God, I have no idea what to do!_

She tried to think rationally. But the only possible idea blew her mind. It wasn't that. Definitely not. She couldn't be…

_Don't go there, Jenny. _

Right. At the moment, she had to get out of the rain. She dashed towards her back door, looking nervously behind her at the stormy sky. Step one – okay. Now she needed Julian. If she was right in what she thought… the future was so cloudy that she couldn't bear to see it, let alone face it without him.

She concentrated. Where was he and why wasn't he here? Before she could stop it, she saw him behind her closed eyes.

Julian was in a dark room, looking around preoccupiedly. He picked up something, put it down. Jenny didn't know what he was doing, and his surroundings were vague. She frowned.

Her eyes snapped open. What had she done? What was she still doing? What was happening? Why could she do this?

Her mind became more and more shrill as she tried to come to terms. She sank to the cold tile floor, grateful that the house was empty. Oh, God. She wasn't ready.

Closing her eyes, another vision of Julian in the same place swept over her. Timidly, she reached out.

_Julian! Please. _

That was all she had the strength for before she collapsed.

~0~0~0~

**Julian**

Julian was in his small room, poring over runes, when he felt the call. He had been trying to look for some explanation of what he already suspected. But this cemented his belief in a minute.

_Julian! _Cried Jenny's voice in his head. It was so strong that he doubled over, gasping. _Please – _and then it cut off with a feeling of desperation. He jolted to his feet. He might not have been a Shadow Man anymore, but he suspected even a dog could have heard that. She didn't know her own strength.

He was running out the door in another minute.


	4. Resignation

**Thanks to Wonderland Dragon! **

**Maybe someday I can pretend to own these characters. But until then, they're L.J Smith's.**

**Still Julian**

When he ran into the Thorntons' kitchen twenty minutes later, Jenny was slumped on the cold tile floor. He lifted her gently, but recoiled as a shock of leftover electricity ran up his arms. Julian had to remember that he wasn't immune anymore.

"Jenny," He whispered, though he knew that she would sleep for several hours yet. Playing with thunderstorms, and then forcing a mental link on top of it all… more careful this time, he carried her to her room and laid her on her bed.

Watching her from the door, Julian tried not to confront what he knew was real. What he knew had happened.

This would turn their world on end.

And he wasn't leaving her side.

**Jenny**

When she opened her eyes, her room was light. The rain had stopped. But best of all, Julian was sitting on her bed, looking at her gently.

She sat up immediately. "Julian, thank God!" Her earlier weakness seemed to have evaporated. "I…"

He pulled her to him. "I know."

She tilted her head. "No, Julian, you don't. I'm going crazy."

"Why do you think that?" His blue eyes were gentle, not shocked or surprised. She leaned into his warm chest, savoring it while it lasted.

"I can't even talk to people without hating them anymore. I look at things and see how I can break them. I close my eyes and see…things. And…I think it was me who caused the storm. But that isn't all of it. Julian – I was out in the rain – and there was lightning –"

She broke off, tears starting to slip from her eyes.

"And then what?" his voice was still calm, though his hands held her protectively.

"And – I wanted to know what it would be like to touch it. And I did. And – it felt good. It didn't hurt me." She looked up, sure his face would be disgusted, horrified. Instead, it was accepting. He kissed her softly.

"Yes," he said when he broke away. "You are not crazy. There is _nothing_ wrong with you. And," he added, as though he sensed her earlier thoughts, "even if there was, it would hardly make me love you less."

She couldn't doubt the sincerity of his words. But there was something hidden in his face – a sadness, or a resignation.

"What are you hiding from me, Julian?"

He looked her in the eyes, brushing away an amber strand of hair. "Jenny. When everything happened, in June."

She nodded.

"When I gave up immortality. And you were there."

"I remember."

"When you touched me, did anything happen?"

She nodded weakly, not looking up. "It…it ran up my arms. And it stayed…" she touched the spot to the right of her heart.

Acceptance and determination flashed in his eyes, but there was no surprise. "Jenny – the power didn't go to the Shadow Man."

She nodded. She already understood. So she didn't need to hear what he said next.

"It went to you."


	5. Shadow

**I'm only the stage director. I may put the characters into weird situations, but they definitely aren't mine!**

**I love reviews!**

Jenny nodded. She wasn't surprised either. Instead, she only felt a sad acceptance. The sort that said – _My life is changing forever. And there isn't one damn thing I can do about it._

So she did the only thing she could think of that would prevent tears. She curled into Julian and kissed him, hard.

He kissed her back and pulled her down, both of them feeling that if they could only have this one time, this one long kiss, somehow it would all go back to the way it was.

But they had passed the point of no return. They both knew it. So no matter how desperate, nothing was going to change. She tasted that fact, salty as tears on his lips. And when she finally sat up with a sigh, it was with a new determination.

She looked at her spread hand, held it in front of her face. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated. It burst into golden flames, and Jenny didn't even start.

Somehow, that sight was the last brick in the wall. The wall that separated who she used to be and who she was. There was no way back – not through any amount of hope. There was only forward.

She clenched her fist to extinguish the gold fire, and looked up.

Julian took her non-burning hand and nodded.

"There's a lot we need to do."

~0~0~0~

Jenny stared in disbelief. "You… are asking me to do _what_?"

They were seated in her yard in the dimming light of the sunset. She was watching the red glow dip below the horizon, facing the house. And Julian was also demanding that the first thing they did was find the extent of her powers.

"Jenny. You've called a storm and mist. You've slipped your way into my mind to deliver a message. You've been struck by lightning and come through unharmed, burned fueless fire in your hand. And you're quailing at the thought of trying to move a bit of shadow?" 

"Yes! Moving from place to place without actually doing it is unnatural!"

"It's the first thing Shadow Men learn to do. Actually, I don't think we even learn it. It's natural to us. There's shadow right there. Just clear your mind, you'll go over there!"

"I'm trying," she sighed, though she really wasn't. Julian rolled his eyes at her. "Does this help?"

He leaned in and kissed her _just _long enough to make her breathless, then abruptly pulled away, stopping her when she tried to kiss him herself. "Ah, ah, ah. No more until you really try."

She glared playfully. "Aren't you evil today?"

"On the contrary, I think _you're_ the evil one now." A beat of silence as his words sank in. He froze. "I'm sorry. I…"

"No." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

With another sigh, she slipped into the shadows, reappearing beneath the willow tree in her yard. "I still think it's unnatural," Jenny called, laughing a passable attempt at a laugh. She used the shadows to move back to his side.

"And now that I've _tried_, I believe you promised me something."

Julian smiled wolfishly. "Have I?"

"Definitely. Why don't we cut off lessons early?"

He started to voice his agreement, but Jenny swept them _both_ through the shadows this time until they landed on the floor of her room. She grinned. "I could get used to this."

His response, nonverbal as it was, was definitely worth the trouble.


	6. Hunger

**I don't claim to own any characters!**

**Shout outs for mandidawna!**

It was only an hour until Jenny's parents arrived from their respective jobs. Joey, looking nervously at his sister, slunk in a few minutes afterward. She felt a twinge of remorse, but her newfound power refused to hide from him. Instead, she looked evenly back, daring him to comment.

"How was your afternoon, honey?" sighed her mother, sinking into a chair and clearly unaware of the tension. "Would you mind making dinner? It's been a long day."

Jenny nodded, heading to the kitchen and _not_ thinking about Julian. Definitely not thinking…

She realized that she was on autopilot; she was so busy intently not thinking. She was also about to put the lettuce into the pasta. Apparently her autopilot needed a little work.

_Ew. Somehow…this whole idea of dinner does not seem appetizing. At all._ A horrifying thought struck her.

_Wait. How long has it been since I've eaten, or wanted to eat… human food? Oh, no. Oh, crap._

She searched frantically for Julian. Where had he gone after leaving her house? When she couldn't feel his mind, she slumped against the counter. _This is bad. _Jenny thought back, wondering… she had really not eaten for weeks, not beyond a bit here and there. Nor had she wanted to.

But…when she had come back from their dream war, her first thought had been _hungry_.

_Julian, damn it, where are you?_

She wondered if there was a distance limit on this thing. Or if he was somehow shielded.

Then she realized that the water was boiling over. "Shit!" She grabbed the pot without bothering with a mitt, moving it off of the stovetop. A bit of scalding water hit her arm, but she ignored it, pouring noodles into a bowl.

A muffled gasp came from the door. She whirled around, still clinging to the heated metal pot.

Joey was standing in the doorway, eyes wide. "Did you just…"

"No! No, I didn't." She giggled nervously. "I did absolutely nothing."

He raised his eyebrows, looking much older than nine. "Really."

"Yeah!" Jenny sounded guilty even to herself. "Uh."

"Puh – lease. What's going on?"

She sighed. "Joey – It's the longest story you ever heard, and Mom and Dad want dinner…"

"I hope you're not serving us _that_," he said, pointing to the congealed noodle mess. "That is just gross. So while you make me more, will you tell me?"

"I…" _Now what? Do I lie? Tell the truth? Julian, where are you when I need you? _A sigh. "I'm going to talk to my friends tomorrow. Come with."

"You're grounded, aren't you? I know you are."

"I'm going to talk to my friends tomorrow," she repeated, with the same inflection. "Come with."

He grinned a little-kid grin. "Oh – KAY!"

So Jenny found herself with several plans she hadn't intended to make. Including dinner. She looked at the mess that was once pasta.

"And this is totally useless." Since she didn't have anything to lose –

Jenny conjured up some spaghetti for Joey. It floated in midair before she caught it on a plate. Her brother stared.

"Dinner is served."


	7. Truth

**No characters, sadly, are mine. **

**I love all my readers and reviewers!**

Jenny was facing almost the hardest thing she had yet. She was going to walk in to Audrey's room, face her friends, cousin, ex, and brother, and say – what?

_Oh, yeah, so you all remember when we almost died? Well, I just happened to steal a bit of the shadow power. But don't worry, nothing's different! It's only a little lightning. And fire. And magic. Nothing to worry about._

Yeah, right.

Julian squeezed her hand as she paced around Audrey's living room. He had returned early that morning, but they had had almost no time to talk. Now she was dealing with what seemed a much larger problem.

"Relax, Jenny," sighed Julian, stroking the back of her hand. She looked at him incredulously.

"I'm going to possibly be disowned by my friends and family – or get locked up in an insane asylum – and you're telling me to relax?" She found herself swelling with anger again, the dangerous sort of irritation that meant something or someone was going to break.

Julian noticed and distracted her with a gentle kiss. Her anger melted. "Come on. They're expecting us to arrive eventually, and we can't pretend not to be here forever." Before Jenny could protest, he had pulled her up the wide stairs to Audrey's room. "Now or never."

She looked at the doorknob. _Would it be so bad if I just left?_

"Yes," sighed Julian from beside her. "After all, we'll need to get this out of our way if you want to learn not to put your thoughts into other people's heads." She blushed in surprise.

"All right!" She pulled on the knob. "If only to shut you up."

Her vision was immediately obscured by a hug from Audrey and Summer (at the same time.). "You're free!" laughed the former, shaking back copper hair. Dee grinned from her place on the rug.

"Yep," squeaked Jenny. "Free." _Act normal._ Then she remembered that she was prone to thinking loudly. _OK. Don't think._

Julian rolled impossibly blue eyes in her direction.

"Jenny, hey!" Dee was looking alarmingly cheerful. "What's so important that it needed all eight of us? Plus your kid brother." At this Jenny saw Joey, sitting near the corner and looking slightly intimidated.

"Uh." She thought frantically. Tom – whom she hadn't noticed before – raised his eyebrows, and Michael smiled.

"Spit it out, Jenny. It can't be that bad."

She smiled a little. "Okay. I would say not to assume I'm crazy until I finish – but if I'm crazy, you all are too. But for Joey's sake –" She met her brother's eyes. "I'm starting at the beginning, okay?"

So she did. Jenny started from the _very _beginning. The More Games Store. The paper house. When her voice tired, the others pitched in bits of information. Joey stayed silent, looking from his sister to her friends.

When Jenny got to the events of late June, she stopped. Joey blinked. "Are you done?"

A nod.

"So I can pass judgment?"

Another nod.

"Okay then! You. Are. All. In. Sane. Totally and completely wacko!"

Jenny winced. Although she deserved it, she didn't like seeing her own brother look at her like that.

"Actually – I'm not done."

"You're not?" Zach glanced up apprehensively. "Why not?"

"Uh. There's something that wasn't included."

The others looked expectant, simply watching her. She leaned into Julian for moral support and tried to think of what to say.

Suddenly a thought surfaced in Audrey's mind. _Oh. My. God. She's not pregnant, is she?_

"Audrey!" Jenny yelped. "Of course not!"

"Sorry," grinned Audrey sheepishly… then froze. "Wait. I didn't say anything."

"Uh…yeah," said Michael from the side. "As far as I know of."

Jenny shrugged awkwardly. "That's what I left out?"

Julian squeezed her hand, meaning – _Explain._ She sighed and started all over again.

"Okay. So everyone knows what happened three weeks ago. But… I think when the price was paid… it didn't all go to the Shadow Man. Some of it went to me."

And there it was. Jenny couldn't help breathing a sigh of relief. Let them react as they would.

And react they did.


	8. Identity

**See disclaimers - on every other chapter!**

**Sorry it's been taking so long :( life does that to me.**

**Reviews keep my spirits up! **

"WHAT?" Tom was looking around as though about to fend off an enemy. "So… you're saying…"

Summer was blinking in confusion. "I have no _idea_ what you're saying!"

Dee blinked. "So you're some kind of… Shadow Woman?"

"No…" said Julian pensively. "Our – _their_ – race is exclusively male. I think it's more likely that she'll have only a few changed qualities."

"Changed such as?" Still Dee, her face furrowed. However, Jenny didn't sense animosity in her mind. In answer, she did the same fire trick she had showed Julian. Might as well have it all out in the air.

"I can also call storms and manipulate the weather," she said, watching the golden flames lick up her fingers. "Move through shadows. I'm immune to heat, and I can apparently do a lot of telepath stuff." She forced herself to look at her friends.

_Act normal. What a joke._

Their mouths were hanging open. "All that?" Michael asked.

She winced at his expression, wanting to hide behind Julian, but the humming in her chest told her to stand tall. "So far."

Zach whistled, leaning back, his eyes on her burning hand. "How long have you known?"

"Only a few days."

This clipped sort of dialogue was cut short by Joey flinging himself onto her lap. "I wanna be crazy too! Will you do that at school for me?"

She laughed. "No. Joey, you can't tell anyone about this."

"Why not? You did."

"That's different. You all already knew… mostly. The whole world? Not so much."

"Please? Please? Please? Neal would love to know about this! Please?"

She scowled. "It's a bad idea."

"Please Jenny? Please? Please?" He pulled on her arm. The Jenny she used to be would have smiled at his antics and then explained exactly why they had to be secretive. The Jenny she was?

She bared her teeth. "I _said_ it's a bad idea." Her heart was thudding, and her entire body was tensed to move at a moment's notice.

"But –"

Julian's eyes darted to Joey. "Drop it." The atmosphere grew tenser. "And you might want to move." He wrapped an arm around Jenny.

Joey, in a traditionally nine-year-old way, scowled and moved about a foot. "Why noooot? Jennnyyyy," he whined. "I wannnnt to tellll people –"

Jenny snarled. The sound wasn't like it would have been if she was human. Instead, it was a feral, haunting noise. Joey flinched as she leaned forward.

"We are not speaking to anyone about this. This is not a game, despite what you aren't intelligent enough to realize is true. So don't pretend and don't bother repeating the same things." Her voice was ice cold. "Understood?"

He nodded, his eyes afraid. "I – I just –"

Jenny did not want to see him. She wanted him out of her sight. And the only way to do that –

She lunged forward on her coiled muscles, teeth wide. Julian's arms immediately wrapped around her, pulling her back. Why couldn't strength be included in her list of powers? She needed him gone!

Julian whispered something to her, but she couldn't hear him over her angry snarls. Dee, her automatic reflexes kicking in, had grabbed her brother and moved him across the room. Summer, Audrey, and Michael were just staring in utter confusion. Zach's eyes were sad.

And Tom? He was standing by the door, looking at the scene unfolding. Then he sighed.

"You aren't Jenny anymore," he said quietly. His voice wasn't even hurtful. If it had been, she could have explained the shock that went through her. But it was only sorrowful. "Jenny died three weeks ago. I should have seen it."

Jenny froze in Julian's arms. She couldn't believe it.

Tom turned on his heel and left, the door closing behind him.

She stopped fighting and looked into blue eyes. "But… if I'm _not_ Jenny… who am I? Damn it, WHO AM I?"

No one answered.


	9. Tears

**Maybe, one day, I will claim to own these characters. But until then… nope.**

**I'm gonna go off the Face of the Earth for a while… to somewhere with no computer, anyway. So don't kill me when you see no updates for a few days :)**

**Some Julian/Jenny here! Not really a lemon, but you have been warned! **

**And please please please review for me – nothing better than a review.**

Jenny sat on her bed, eyes closed, knees pulled up to her chest. She felt… incredibly alone. And not just physically, though she had shadow-moved out of Audrey's house so quickly that it would take anyone else several minutes to reach her.

Her whole life had turned on end. She felt as though she had to learn how to be Jenny all over again. The way her identity had been stripped away... she wasn't human. She wasn't a Shadow Man. She wasn't even Jenny Thornton anymore.

_If this keeps going – there won't be anything left._

She wanted to cry. Instead, a pencil on her desk pummeled itself into a woody pulp. She scowled at it.

The girl who couldn't call herself Jenny got up and strode across the room. She was lucky it was only a pencil this time. What was she going to do when it was the house?

It wasn't a thought she wanted to have. She stared out the window, wondering what she was. The girl started when a pair of arms wrapped around her. She whirled to see a pair of impossibly blue eyes.

"How did you get here?" She asked, quiet. He shrugged.

"I ran. Are you all right?"

"Why would I be all right, Julian?" She buried her face in his chest and decided never to come out. If she did, she would hurt someone. A tear stained the dark fabric of his shirt.

"Tell me, Jenny," he said softly. She winced at the name.

"I'm not Jenny, remember?" she said sardonically, her face still in the shirt. He detached her with soft hands.

"What he said was a lie. A lie, Jenny. This doesn't define you." Water over rocks, rushing in his voice. "You are still entirely the same person – but… more unusual."

"Unusual? Unusual?" She felt herself slipping towards hysteria. "I can't look at people without wanting to kill them! I can't control my emotions, and I haven't eaten human food for weeks! You call me unusual?"

"Yes," he said simply, sitting with her on the bed. "I do." Julian held her tightly, letting her cry herself out in his arms. She wasn't sure how long it took for her to feel a semblance of normal.

Finally, she hiccupped herself into silence. She was leaning into him, tear tracks down her face.

"But… I'm not _me_ anymore, Julian. Who I used to be… she's so far away now. And the girl I was isn't coming back. What if…" she felt silly voicing the fear, but plunged ahead. "What if the girl I am now – she doesn't belong in your life?"

Julian cupped her chin, forcing her to look at him. When he spoke, his voice had a faint tinge of amusement. "Jenny. You've betrayed me, locked me in a closet, broken the ring-oath, gotten my name carved off the runestave, and I love you as much as ever. Yet you think that a few extra powers are going to send me running? Not a chance."

She had to admit she could see the logic. She allowed herself a tiny smile. Everything seemed a lot more bearable with Julian.

"How do you feel now?"

"A little better."

"And now?" He kissed her until her head spun and her breath came in gasps. She smiled a real smile this time.

"Still a little sad. I think I need more help."

"Gladly." He kissed up the line of her jaw, making her gasp and laugh. "Whatever you need." His lips moved across hers, and she pulled him closer, fingers tangling in his hair. Gracefully, he pulled them down until they were on the bed. Her breathing spiked as she pulled herself towards him.

Julian kissed along her neck, making her shiver. She twined her arms around his torso and wondered _exactly_ what she could do with these new powers of hers. For example… she concentrated, and the black shirt he _had_ been wearing was no longer in existence.

He laughed around her lips. "Looks like you found another skill." An arm wrapped around her back. "But I guess I'll just have to do this the human way."

Jenny's shirt was just starting to loosen when her new senses felt Dee's mind approaching the house. She scowled.

"We have to stop," she whispered. "Dee's coming."

Julian groaned. "Deirdre has no sense of timing."

He gently kissed her – a contrast to the passion that had moved them before – and allowed her to sit up. He stayed stretched out on her bed, shirtless, and Jenny felt a tremor run through her.

"I'll be here," he said, smiling as Dee's footsteps echoed up the driveway. "After all, I still need my shirt back."

She laughed and hurried to intercept her friend.


	10. Fantasy

**I'm back! Thanks for bearing with me, and a shout out to bloodyxfangs!**

**Not much of plot here – Dee talks sense into Jenny. Julian hangs around without a shirt…hmmm. :)**

**Reviews are ALMOST better than a half-naked Julian.**

**See the disclaimers that explain how I am in no way L.J. Smith.**

Jenny pulled at her clothes, quickly trying to straighten them as Dee's footsteps grew nearer. Finally she gave up and opened the door.

"Dee?"

Her friend's sloe eyes flashed. "Yes. Dee." She looked Jenny up and down, noticing the rumpled outfit. Her dark face was extremely annoyed.

Jenny wasn't sure what the problem was – but she knew she would find out. Dee wouldn't come all the way to her house in a towering temper just to visit.

"What's going on?" She pulled the door wider, inviting Dee in. Her friend stalked past on long legs and leaned against the wall.

"What's going _on?_" The dark eyes were narrow. "What's going on? Your nine-year-old brother is afraid to come home. Tom is God knows where. Summer is crying her eyes out. What else do you need?"

Jenny flinched, but she knew she deserved this. She needed to face what she'd done.

"I know. I – I'm so sorry."

"Sorry? You're sorry? And yet I come here to find you running down from your room after getting it on with Julian? You're not sorry."

She shook her head, almost desperately. "No! I…"

Dee sighed. She wasn't angry, not really. Jenny only saw hurt in her eyes.

"What Tom said…?" Dee hesitated. "He was wrong. But there was something there. You're still Jenny. But… changed. And you need to get that under control. If you go on like this…" She didn't need to finish. They both knew what would happen.

"I… I will. I won't lose control again."

"Good." Her friend smiled wanly. "Because after all, I wouldn't want to miss out on taking care of such a simple weakling as you are."

Jenny narrowed her eyes, pretending to be angry. "Are you testing me?"

Dee shrugged. "Had to check. I mean, if you were going to blast me, I needed to know." But she looked more amused than frightened at the prospect.

Jenny only laughed. "I'll need to apologize to everyone. But thanks for not hating me. And yelling when I needed it. Means a lot."

"What are friends for, if not to take care of their simple weaklings?"

She rolled her eyes. "Call me that again…" Jenny twirled fire for special effects. She still wasn't used to doing that, and she felt a thrill at the power. Dee, however, didn't seem at all perturbed.

"Oh yeah, and I thought I should warn Julian."

"Warn me about what?" asked said Julian, walking languidly into the kitchen. Without any warning, but she assumed he'd been listening to everything they said.

Jenny smiled. "It's rude to eavesdrop." Turning, she realized that Julian had still not gotten his shirt back, and had apparently decided not to bother with it. A thrill that doubled the feeling of the flames shot through her.

Dee snorted in amusement at Julian's half-dressed state. "Having fun, were we?"

Jenny blushed beet-red, but Julian only raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps we were, before we were so rudely interrupted." He pulled Jenny towards him, causing her heart to jolt, then race into overdrive.

Dee rolled her eyes. "_Anyway_, I was warning you that Tom's decided you're at fault for 'killing' Jenny. He's a mess, and I wouldn't put it past him to come after you."

Julian shrugged. Jenny stared at the motion of his bare shoulders. "Let him try." He smiled at Jenny. "He wouldn't get far."

A noncommittal grunt from Dee. "Just a warning." Then a wince. "Stop, Jenny! You're in love with him, not me. And you're thinking WAY too loudly."

Jenny turned, if possible, even redder. "I HATE not being able to think anymore," she muttered. "Sorry, Dee."

"I'm out of here anyway," she muttered. "You go and have more fun – and don't tell me about it!" With that, she hurried out the door.

Julian smirked. "Now, what could possibly have gotten rid of her so fast?" His voice was slightly ironic in his lilting way.

Jenny shook her head, laughing. "If you didn't hear that, it would have been a miracle."

"Miraculously, I didn't. So what in particular were you thinking, that was so awful?"

She shook her head again. He smiled dazzlingly, trying to convince her. "You've forgotten the most important part, Jenny."

"And what's that?" She couldn't resist leaning into his chest.

"After all – if you tell me, I get to make it come true."


	11. Voice

**All right… there has so far been no magic spell that has turned me into L.J Smith. Standard disclaimer applies.**

**Reviews are amazing!**

**Tom's POV**

Tom stared around at the landscape. He really had no idea where he was. After the events at Audrey's, he had run to his car and drove aimlessly in circles.

Now he simply sat in the driver's side seat, staring out the window. It was growing dark. Behind his eyes, Tom watched images of Jenny. _His_ Jenny. The Jenny she had been – before.

Jenny with her hair pulled back, sashaying in a long flowing skirt. Jenny at the grassy hill with the group. Jenny in her kitchen making Chinese food, singing to herself.

And unbidden, memories of the other. Who she was now. Jenny kissing Julian at the end of the first Game. Jenny flinching away from him in the caves on Svartalfheim, eyes unhappy. Jenny writhing in Julian's arms as she fought to get to her brother, teeth bared.

He couldn't make the two fit together.

Tom supposed that was it, then. The last nail in her coffin. Jenny – his Jenny – was dead.

And she'd left behind a monster to take her place.

A stab of grief passed through him. _Yeah, well. You knew this would happen. Get over it!_ He thought harshly. _You saw this coming from the first time she saw him._

Tom scowled, staring blindly at the scenery. Another, snider voice seemed to take over. _And who was it who changed her like this? Who killed your Jenny?_

That was easy enough. The cruelly intelligent, inhumanly strong no-longer-Shadow-Man. Julian.

Julian had done this. _Of course,_ said the snide voice. _And what are you going to do about it?_

_Nothing, _Tom thought back. _She made her choice._

_What?_ The voice argued with him. _That's the path of a weakling. You'll just let her go? _

_Yes!_

_No. _

Tom shook his head in confusion. He had never disagreed so strongly with himself before…

_No. You _are_ going to avenge her. Your Jenny. Who died. She'll be avenged on her killer._

Suddenly, Tom smiled. Of course he wasn't going to let it go! Why had he ever thought differently? The only thing he needed now… was his vengeance.

Tom restarted the car. It wheeled back towards Vista Grande.

His ideas wheeled with it.


	12. Tell

**I am now L. J. Smith! I own everything! My hair is iridescent pink and purple! Unfortunately, everything I say is a lie. **

**Heartfelt thanks to everyone reading, following, and reviewing this story! Because otherwise it would be aimlessly floating around my head, and it does no good there.**

**NOTE**

**I WAS going to put a lemon here, but decided against it for 2 reasons – **

**1. As awesomely sexy as Julian is, I want most of my chapters to influence the plot. And I can't think of any way to make that change the story, besides making Tom mad (and that gets a little too Breaking Dawn – ish. Not to mention that he's already mad.)**

**And 2. I would have to change the rating to M, which would make the story stop being listed. **

**Soooo that's why this took so long – I rewrote the entire chapter. However, anyone who wants to read the original, tell me in a review and I'll post it separately as an M rated oneshot!**

Jenny smiled, still feeling the ghost of Julian's lips. Across her face, her body… amazing how she could still feel him after he had been gone for almost an hour now.

She looked out at dark sky, wondering how long it would take for him to return. He said he had something for her… though she would like his presence better than any gift.

She reminded herself not to think so much. Joey was currently in the living room, having somewhat forgiven her. Though he still was wary of being in the same house.

Jenny sighed for many reasons. She simply watched the night sky, until the rattling of the door jolted her out of her reverie.

She hurried down the stairs, looking through the drapes at… Tom? His words came back to her, and she considered leaving him on the step. But Dee's warning was to control her temper, so she pulled the door open.

"What?"

Tom scowled darkly, glancing past her. "Is he here?"

Jenny blinked. "No, _Julian_ is not here. Why do you want to see him anyway?"

He shrugged.

"Well, then, come back later." She started to close the door, but he caught it with his foot, keeping it open. "What do you want, Tom?"

He shrugged again, and stepped into the house. "To talk."

Jenny leaned against the wall, as far from him as possible. "I'm listening."

"Jenny. I know you know where he is. Tell me."

"As a matter of fact, I _don't_ know where he is."

"Liar. Use your mind power thing. Not that you would say anyway," he added in a mutter, "you're dead, after all."

Jenny recoiled. _Not true. Not true. Not true_

"Get out of my house, Tom!"

"Tell me where I can find Julian!"

_._

_Keep control of your temper. _"Get out."

He crossed his arms. "Tell me."

She turned away. "I have nothing to say."

Suddenly, Tom grabbed her shoulder, pushing her to face him. She cried out in pain, but he didn't let go.

"Why are you doing this, Tom?"

His face was black with fury. "Because I loved Jenny Thornton. And you're keeping me from avenging her death."

He slapped her across the face.

And that was it for Jenny's restraint. She glowed with electricity, sending a shock through his arm. "Don't. Touch. Me!" He grimaced in pain, but swung again.

Jenny felt fury well up. Before she could stop it, he was flying across the room. "I said DON'T TOUCH ME!"

He groaned, a trickle of blood falling from his nose. Jenny froze.

_What have I done?_

She vanished into the shadows.


	13. Blood

**I am not L.J. Smith, and I own nothing! Besides my plot. **

Jenny had no idea where she was. She had shadow-moved for so long she felt dizzy and nauseated, and looking around her, she saw only forest.

Cold, northern forest.

But colder still – the fact that she'd lost her temper again. She couldn't deny it – she was too dangerous.

Jenny sat on a rock, wondering where on earth she belonged. She couldn't get rid of the vision of Tom, slammed against the wall. The fact that he had been physically hurting her didn't seem to matter in comparison to what she'd done.

She really was a monster.

Jenny stayed like that for hours. Only the thought of herself and how incredibly pitiful she must look spurred her to her feet.

She couldn't just sit there. She had powers. She could make it on her own. With that, Jenny got up. The place where Tom had hit her was throbbing, and her muscles were stiff, but she moved quickly to a shaded spot. No use in sitting around and moping.

Instead, she lit a fire and stared at the flames. She felt rather like a ten-year-old running away from home – only this time the stakes were much higher than a broken vase or messy room.

This time…

She watched the firelight turn the trees red. Bloodred.

It was time to adjust to her new life.

~0~0~0~

**Julian**

When the ex-Shadow Man finally finished his work on the new idea, he was exhausted. Exhaustion was a human sensation he hadn't quite become used to yet. And it was so much _harder_ to make things by hand…

He sighed, but smiled. Time to see Jenny again – which he was quite looking forward to. Leaving her alone for more than a short span of time bothered Julian intensely.

He slid to his feet and started to run towards her house.

When he arrived, he knew something was wrong. Even with weak human ears, he could hear crying – a young boy's – Joey's?

Julian darted through the door. "What happened?"

Joey looked up from the floor, hiccupping. "Julian?"

"What happened? Where's Jenny?"

He explained, stumbling over words. "Sh – she was here. And Tom c – came. And he was asking where's Julian where's Julian."

Julian nodded, fighting for composure. He would _not_ frighten Joey. Hopefully. "And then?"

"And sh – she said she didn't know and to get out of her house. And Tom s – said she was a liar and hit her."

Julian ground his teeth. _Not hurting anyone._ "And _then_?"

"She said don't t – touch me and then he hit her again and she did something and he flew and h – hit the wall and he wasn't moving and Jenny started crying and she vanished."

Both of them were shaking now. "And then I looked at Tom and he woke up and he says where did she go. And I say I don't know and he goes and he says I was never here, Joey and goes but he pushed me and I fell."

This took Julian a minute to decipher, but once he did he stood up in a fury. Only the knowledge that he was not, _not_ going to be like Thomas Locke kept him from shaking answers out of the boy.

Instead, he sighed. "Go clean the scrape." For Joey was holding a bloody cut on his knee. Julian wasn't used to mothering, but he tossed a band-aid at him. "And tell your parents Jenny's… with Dee or something."

With that, he hurried out the door.

Where to go? It wouldn't help him to go anywhere on a whim. Jenny could be on the other side of the globe. To her friends, then? No point if she had used the shadows.

Julian put his head in his hands, desperately trying to think.


	14. Flower

**The standard disclaimer, review hint, etc. all apply! Since people usually skip this bit, I'll head right to the story.**

Jenny sat in the clearing – her clearing, it seemed, though she shared it with birds and the occasional fox. It had been what – three days now?

Jenny could call water when she wished – she'd learned that. Probably food too, but she preferred the meat from the cougar that had wandered into her camp. She had been asleep when it came, awakening to feral eyes and a mouthful of teeth. Frantic, Jenny had tried to kill it outright, and when that failed, she sent a tree falling onto its spine.

At that point, she had felt so hungry that she pulled away a strip of meat without thinking. Eating it had horrified her, but her body, running on so little food for so long, took over. And why should she be horrified, anyway? There was no one there to judge her besides herself.

She ate as much as she could.

Jenny mainly occupied herself now with practicing her magic. It seemed like she could mostly do things that changed her environment. And conjure up things that were possible in this environment. For example, she could make a fire by thinking about it on a sunny day – but not in a downpour.

The telepathy was unused now that there was no one nearby.

She laughed, thinking of what Julian would say if he saw her now, doing magic just for the sake of doing magic. _He would laugh and pretend to be hurt. And ask me quietly what exactly it did that he couldn't._

Of course, if Julian was there it was more likely that he'd kiss her and look furious and tell her to never do this again.

Jenny sighed. _No point thinking about things you can't have. You came here for a reason._

With that, she kept practicing. At the moment, she was staring at a patch of earth. Frowning, she sent out a tendril of power. A shape started to grow, and she grinned. She _could _manipulate earth. In fact, it was kind of fun. She pushed it to grow some more.

Turning away, she didn't see that the flower bursting from the soil was a clear, vibrant blue. In fact, she didn't see the tiny clear sap that fell like tears. If she had, she might have cried. And of course, Jenny didn't cry. So if she had turned around in enough time to see it…

She was quite sure that she didn't, of course.


	15. Think

**All together now – Ariadne does not own anything. We will not sue her, because if we do, it will mess up her life pretty significantly and she will no longer be able to update. **

**Get it? Got it? Good.**

**Thanks to bloodyxfangs – and I COMPLETELY agree with you about Tom!**

**Julian**

Julian paced his small room, desperately trying to think. Where would she go? She had seen Tom, fought, left. And…

It was bad enough being without her – something he'd almost forgotten – but now he didn't even have the comfort of watching her, protecting her.

It drove Julian mad.

Not literally – not _yet_ – but he was quite sure that if he had had the slightest indication of anywhere she could be, he would be there in another hour, no matter what the cost.

He walked faster, around and around. But of course, he only ended up back where he started.

It could have been minutes or hours before the quick, firm rapping on the door. "Julian, I know you're in there. Jenny's parents just called wanting to talk to her, thinking she was with me. Where is she?"

Deirdre, of course. He pulled the door. "She's not here."

"I can see that," sighed Dee, the looked back at him in surprise, reading his face. "What is it?" She looked almost afraid. Apparently his emotions were clear.

He looked at her as impassively as he could, under the circumstances. Which was not very impassive. "_Tom_ decided that he could afford to…damage… her in the interest of finding me to avenge her death."

Dee's breath hissed in surprise and horror. He acknowledged her with a bare nod.

"She was afraid for her safety and used her powers. Apparently they were less controlled than she had hoped. Tom was injured. She ran. I heard this from her brother when I arrived an hour later." Julian forced his voice to remain dispassionate. It was only an event. Only an event.

Deirdre swore and hit the wall. "That…that…WHY did he do that?"

A shrug. Julian didn't trust himself to speak without explaining _exactly _what he thought of Thomas Locke.

Dee retraced his exact steps, pacing around the room. "We need an excuse. First Summer went missing, then we ran away to Pennsylvania, then we went and got _you_ out of the Shadow World… we can't do anything else even remotely suspicious, or we'll never get away with anything!"

"Do you think I don't _know_ that?" he snapped at her, dropping his head back into his hands. This was useless. He had to go and find Jenny _now._ "I know we're trapped here! That doesn't change anything!"

Dee scowled. "Just focus. Where would she go?"

"What do you think I've been trying to figure out?" he asked, attempting to keep the hostility to a bare minimum. "I don't know!" He needed to know _rightthisfreakingsecond_.

Dee rolled her eyes. "If I didn't remember what happened to me the last time I attacked you, you would be slapped. Don't you GET it? We can't leave. The whole town knows us. But no one knows you! Disappear and no one cares!"

Julian blinked. That actually made sense.

"But where is she?"

"Welllll…" Dee thought about it. "Light, animals. No people, probably for a few hundred miles. No bees. North. Cold over heat. Clouds over sun since she turned all Shadow Woman. That leaves… Canada."

Julian blinked again. "My estimation of you just rose. Tell them all something!"

"You can't search all of Northern Canada!"

"Watch me."

And with that, Julian was out the door.


	16. Flames

**I own nothing of the Forbidden Game world, sadly. Only… what, a dead cougar? Doesn't count.**

Jenny awoke into darkness. For a while, she wasn't sure what had happened to jar her out of rest. Her improved vision allowed her to see for almost a hundred feet each direction – nothing but trees and the chill night.

Eerie.

Since she didn't want to sleep, Jenny got up, watching the darkness lighten ever so slowly in one corner of the sky. From black to gray to gold to orange… there was always something beautiful about sunrise.

But there was something wrong. She couldn't put her finger on the problem with the gold glow – but she _knew_, instinctively, that something was off. Maybe it was that there seemed to be only yellows and oranges… or that it was slightly more towards the west…

Towards the _west_?

Jenny sat bolt upright. The sun did NOT rise in the west. That she was quite sure of, no matter how topsy turvy her world had become. Without hesitating, Jenny moved to the west, faster and faster.

She stopped when she saw the wall of flames.

Less of a wall, really, than a column, spreading farther… Jenny stared in amazement, not noticing the heat. How had this happened? There had been no storm…

And then she saw the tiny scrap of scorched fabric – waterproof camping tarp. Jenny reeled backwards.

A campfire out of control – lighter fluid, or too much wood – and this had happened. She looked towards the tent – what was left of it – but there was no sound. The campers, whoever they were – hadn't made it out.

Tears were running down Jenny's face, only to dry immediately in the heat. Life just wasn't fair. What had they done that was so terrible? Made a mistake with a fire – and paid for it with their lives. And the lives of everything around them.

It was then that Jenny heard the sobbing. She whirled, gasping, and _just _caught sight of a small figure. Someone made it through! Though not for long, if the temperature around her was any indication. Desperately, she reached out, trying to see through the smoke.

A girl – no older than eleven – was clinging with all her strength to a tree that was cracking and sparking. At first, Jenny was confused – how on earth had she managed to stay there, in the center of the blaze?

Then she realized that the girl was sopping wet, apparently having dumped water across herself when she awoke. Jenny didn't think any more than that. It was time to see _just_ how flame-resistant she was.

Going against all natural instincts, Jenny ran right through the fire to the girl's side. She came through gasping, flinching away, and unhurt.

"Come on, move!" she yelped to a pair of uncomprehending eyes. "Move!" But of course, she wasn't immune! _Think, Jenny. _The girl, probably even younger than eleven, was screaming, clutching her arm. _Need to move need to move need to MOVE!_

Move! She tried to take the shadows out, but the girl had let go. "Take my hand!" She shook her head, panic in her eyes. "We're gonna get out of here, you just have to take my hand!"

The fire roared closer, consuming a fallen tree, and the girl screamed, moving farther away from Jenny. There was no time to chase her – she had to stop the fire – but how?

And Jenny saw the only option she had left. She mustered her strength and PUSHED.

Jenny was spinning, and it was cold. Much colder than she expected, in a fire. And why was it so gray, with the air making her cough? It didn't make sense.

How odd – she seemed to be falling down. She wondered why…


	17. Alive

**I have no relation to L.J. Smith! **

**Reviews are like… like… like me when I'm not metaphorically challenged. But they're really good!**

**Sorry for any delays in updating – I've been trying to write and update one a day… but there's homework…and classes… and stuff… but anyway, I'm sorry!**

When Jenny opened her eyes, she was amazed to be alive. Knowing exactly what she had tried to do…

She blinked. There was a bright, sterile-looking light shining directly into her face, and there seemed to be beeping – the Visitors! She was back with the Visitors and – oh. Right. There were no more Visitors. She looked around.

It was a hospital, as far as she could tell. Jenny was lying on her back, fairly warm, fairly comfortable. A pinching pain sprouted in the crease of her right elbow, and she slowly moved her eyes to see a needle. Ouch.

Suddenly, a door to her left opened, and a nurse in green scurried in. "You're awake! How are you, sweetie?"

Jenny blinked. She didn't feel especially hungry or thirsty, or even pained. Just… neutral. She shrugged, made a raspy noise in her throat.

The nurse nodded sympathetically. "Don't try to talk yet. Do you want me to put on the TV for you?"

She nodded vaguely, and then realized something. "The… girl," she said hoarsely. "Is she all right?"

The nurse looked at her. "The girl found with you? She... she's alive. But she has heavy second and third-degree burns across most of her body. Added to the loss of her parents and brothers… I'm not sure you did her a favor." The nurse looked pensive, but not sad. Jenny supposed she'd seen too many people injured to be affected.

She nodded in understanding. "What's wrong… with me?"

"A case of smoke inhalation. When you came in, you were physically burned out – too little glucose in your blood. Other than that – not much." She seemed relieved to have moved into simple fact. "You're too weak to carry on a conversation now… but we'll want to know about that."

Jenny nodded, and the nurse left, leaving the television playing quietly. So the girl was alive, but might be better off dead. She was in a hospital – where they wanted to know how she'd survived a fire with no burns.

All in all – she'd had better ideas.

Though she was still glad that the girl was okay.

With nothing better to do, Jenny turned her eyes to the screen by the edge of the bed. A news anchor was watching as it showed aerial footage of a burned stretch of forest.

"Here we have new images from satellite cameras. The forest around Fort Nelson, recently ravaged by a forest fire believed to be caused by campers, may hold more tricks up its sleeve. Here we have a Ms. Revnes, ecologist, and could you tell us your findings please?"

"Why thank you, yes," said the scientist. "New research from rubble found in the forest indicates that the fire not only burned out all over within a matter of seconds, but it also burned in an entirely unusual pattern. Here we have helicopter footage…"

Jenny couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. She had stopped the fire – and here she was, still living and breathing (more or less). She could do SO much more than she thought.

Of course – she shouldn't be here, around people. That was the whole reason she'd left. And they were going to question her as soon as they thought she was strong enough. She needed to leave before one of her friends found out where she was…

But instead, she found herself falling back asleep.


	18. Questions

**Yes! To all of you - The inpouring reviews have made my week and I love you all. **

**To mandidawna – here's to the spirit of hypocrisy everywhere!**

**Pinkpearlwings07 – thanks so much! And Julian is by far the sexiest guy I've ever heard of.**

**bloodyxfangs – 'cause that's just who Jenny is – if she didn't go after the girl, she would be really depressed and sad. And she already is, so no point in that… but I'm glad it made people happy :)**

**And as usual, nothing is mine, besides now the nurse and fire girl.**

Jenny dreamed that she was falling through shadows. Falling and falling and falling – but unlike her living self, she was unafraid. She smiled as the ground grew nearer…

It wasn't ground; it was water – water that glowed impossibly blue…she couldn't breathe, but that didn't seem to matter. Air was irrelevant. She kept falling…

The water turned to flames, which licked up her sides, and she still didn't care. Only when they dissipated and became a shape – a shape she knew more than any other – did she feel any emotion.

"Julian!" She gasped, trying to run to him, but the dream held her fast in place. She called out again. "Julian?"

He glanced up indifferently. "Can I help you?" The same inflection he'd had in the More Games store, so long ago…

"Julian, it's me. What is it?"

"Can I help you?"

Jenny turned away in confusion. She had to wake him… and she didn't see the wave of flames until it was far too late to stop them.

"Can I help you?"

~0~0~0~

Jenny gasped her way awake. A dream – just a dream – but she had to get out of that place. Right then, before someone figured out that a) she was the missing girl from California, b) she had come through a raging fire relatively unscathed, and c) she had no identification.

Time to go.

Since she was noticeably stronger, Jenny sat up quickly and looked around. The hospital room was private, on maybe the second floor, and had only one door and one window. Hard to escape from – but she could jump from much higher places now.

Jenny easily stood, looking away and grimacing as she pulled the needle from her arm. She had taken two steps towards the window when the door creaked open.

Jenny whirled around, darting back to the bed. She'd have to hope they hadn't seen – but the smiling nurse from before didn't seem perturbed. Following her was a woman in a navy suit. She looked up warily.

"Hello, dear," said the nurse. "This is Miss Sinclair. She'd like to ask you some questions."

Crap, if she'd only waken up a little earlier – Jenny searched 'Miss Sinclair's thoughts. _Girl looks fine to me. Bet anything it was her set the fire. The Peters girl says she saved her, but she might well be _threatening_ her. And then…_

Definitely a bad guy. Jenny wondered frantically if she had any way to give her amnesia. Or a compulsion to leave…

"What's your name?"

"Uh. Miranda Parker." She sent a mental apology to Summer for borrowing half of her name.

The woman made a note. "Where do you live?"

_Think, Jenny._ "7… Pennington Lane, in… Manitoba."

"Mmm. Where were you when the fire started?"

"I was hiking." This whole story would collapse in about one minute of searching, but she only needed a minute to get out of there. "In the woods."

"You were hiking before dawn?" A note of incredulity had crept into her voice.

"Yes." _Don't look away, she'll suspect you._

"Can you explain the lack of burns on your body?" _Yes – I'm a human who has shadow powers and is immune to heat. _Not the best answer, so she went with "No."

"Very well. What do you know about the young man who came looking for you at this hospital?"

"What?" Julian had been there? When? Why hadn't she sensed him? "Who?"

"I don't know _who,"_ interjected the nurse. "He was tall, athletic, looked about seventeen. Dark hair and eyes."

Jenny deflated. _Oh, no. He's come all the way here – how did he know? How did he find out I was even gone?_

"He was registered under the name of a Thomas Locke," said the woman smoothly. "Do you know him?"

_Yes. No. Not anymore… He CAN'T have come here. Not after how hard it was for me to hide… _

"Well?"

"I… no, I don't."

"Very well, if you will come with me?"

"Come where?" This was getting worse by the minute.

"Oh, it's nothing, just a few follow-up questions." The woman put an iron hand on her shoulder, though Jenny was still sitting on the bed. "You need to accompany me, Miranda."

A look in her eyes said _now._ Jenny pulled herself to her feet, and found herself steered out of the room by a metal grip.


	19. Name

**I'm unfortunately no L.J. Smith!**

**mandidawna – it _is_? I picked that name out of thin air! sorry about that… and though I could combine chapters into longer ones, it would take much longer for me to update.**

**bloodyxfangs – She scares me too – and I don't even know who she is yet!**

Jenny was being steered to she-had-no-idea-where. The hospital hallways were marching on forever, and the metal grip of the woman – a lawyer, maybe? – was unyielding.

"Here, Miranda." She was steered into a room off of reception. Deceptively harmless-looking, with no windows and only one door. Then she realized how paranoid she was being.

"Sit." Jenny sat at a table, pulling her knees to her chest. _What do I do? Refuse to talk to her? Could I shadow out of here?_ Not, she was still too weak to risk it. And wearing green hospital clothes, as she realized once the woman sat across from her. Great.

"Well? I for one don't believe that you're telling us everything you know. And you want to do that, _Miranda_." The tone of voice made it clear that the woman knew it wasn't her real name. "Things tend to happen to those who withhold information."

THAT was a red flag. Jenny leaned back. "Are you threatening me?"

"You tell me. Am I?"

Jenny looked coolly at her, channeling the shadows for all she was worth. "Things tend to happen to those who threaten me." Her voice didn't even quiver. Julian would have been proud – but don't think about that.

The woman smiled dangerously. "Then we are at an impasse. A warning, however – I don't believe that fire was an accident."

Jenny didn't show any emotion. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"You should be." Chills went up Jenny's spine. The woman's eyes were a piercing shade of brown, and she couldn't help but feel that they were looking right through her disguise. Jenny cautiously probed her mind.

_Damn. Girl's too smart for her own good. What am I going to tell them when they find out I couldn't get any information out of her? Daniel and Marcus are going to kill me… and that might mean literally. _

Jenny got up to leave, as the woman was so absorbed in her thoughts she seemed underwater. She was almost to the door when the voice rang out again.

"I didn't dismiss you, Miranda."

She turned. "Oh, yes, and I had a question for you, too." _Be brave, she can't hurt you._ The woman glanced at her.

"Who – exactly – are Daniel and Marcus?"

She moved so fast that even Jenny's quicker-than-human reflexes weren't good enough. Jenny found herself on the floor with the heel of the woman's hand in her throat. The thoughts scrolled through her brain in a disjointed order – first _Dee would kill for that move,_ then _what is this, the mob? What happened to talking like civilized people?_ And then _Hmmm, I should probably get her off now._

Rather less-than terrified, she knitted the fabric of the world a bit. The woman – who Jenny decided to call Amy, for lack of a name – slipped to the side, suddenly losing her balance. After all, it _could _have happened, and Jenny only needed to encourage things to go that way.

She sat up at the same time Amy did.

"What do you know, girl?"

"What have you told me?" She glared, willing her green eyes to ice over. Amy flinched. "Because I've learned a lot from your reaction."

Amy scrambled to her feet. "Get out of here and don't come back. Forget this ever happened. I'm doing you a favor – because I should be killing you now."

Again, Jenny wanted to laugh. This was something out of a bad cop movie. "Well thanks for that." And she did that exact thing.

Wondering about the whole Daniel-Marcus-Amy-hospital connection, she stepped into sunlight. And she only registered her surroundings when she heard someone call her name.


	20. Worse

**Yep… I'm back! And I own nothing. **

**Shout outs to my top 3 – aka mandidawna, bloodyxfangs, and pearlpinkwings07! **

Jenny whirled around. _No one here knows me… no one here knows me besides Tom._ This was bad.

Her eyes wheeled towards the sound, and a glimpse of his dark hair and eyes made her hiss in a breath. "What do you want? Why are you here?"

He pulled her into the shade of an overhanging building.

"I'm here for the same reason I was at your house. You and Julian disappear on the same day. Dee and the others won't tell me anything. Joey, for some reason, is terrified to look at me. Explain."

The clipped command grated on Jenny's nerves. "Explain. Explain so you can go off and try to kill Julian? I don't think so."

Tom scowled. "Not kill him. Make him pay. Send him back to the world he came from."

"What? Tom, you can't! He's human now, they'd kill him themselves!"

"He's only human in body."

Jenny couldn't believe him. "You wasted a trip to Canada, Tom. I don't know where he is and there's no way in hell I would tell you if I did!"

Tom looked at her sadly as she caught a glimpse of his thoughts. _She didn't used to be like this. Now she's HIS. And more like him than ever._

"Would you rather I followed your every whim?" Jenny ground out. "At least now I have an identity, and I can say what I think. That's more than before these games."

He gaped for a minute, before apparently remembering the extent of her powers. "You see? You think you've been changed for the better _now_? I've told you already – Thorny is dead. You're all that she left behind."

Jenny wheeled around. "Get away from me – _and_ Julian. Just. Go. Home."

Tom rolled his eyes. "You really don't get it, do you? I loved Jenny. And she's dead. You expect me to up and go home?"

"I'm not dead, Tom. I made a choice. So what if the ramifications of that weren't what you expected?"

He shook his head. "This isn't a _ramification_. This is plain wrong."

They glared, apparently at a standoff. Then Jenny remembered what he had earlier said. "Wait, you said Julian disappeared on the _same day_ I did? You mean he's been near here for that long?"

Tom looked at her in silence.

"Damn it, don't play with me! He's been here since I left?"

Silence. Jenny took that as a yes. This was worse than bad. Julian wasn't used to being human… and he was out looking for her… with nothing.

MUCH worse than bad. Jenny whirled out of the shadows. "I have to go! Now!"

"No! Wait and tell me where he is!"

"I don't know, and that's the problem!"

Tom scowled. "Liar. You know if you go, I'll only find you. And bad things tend to happen then."

Jenny was suddenly hit with an extreme sense of déjà vu. The woman… Amy… had said something almost identical. What was going ON?

No time to worry about it now.

"Goodbye, Tom!" She slipped into the shadows. "Go home!"

She was gone in another minute – and missed the low laugh from him. "Go home? No time for that. After all, I have too much to do. MUCH too much."


	21. Do

**Nothing owned, nothing worth suing me over… same old drill. **

**Thank yous to reviewers and favoriters and story alert adders! You make the world go round!**

**And pinkpearlwings07 – yeah, but he hasn't fully grasped exactly what that means yet. **

**Julian **

Being mortal was really, really getting on his nerves. The incessant hunger was bothersome. He was limited to a snail's pace. He had to remember to sleep, or else he would collapse. All in all, a human body was really not suited for any sort of physical activity.

Julian hadn't eaten for several days, and while the feeling of hunger wasn't at all new to him, the weakness it brought… that could be a problem. He still hadn't found Jenny, and until then… anything that stood in his way was unimportant.

_Entirely_ unimportant.

Julian lost track of the days as he wandered. Through towns, through forest, through cities… it was slow. But anything – _anything –_ was better than waiting.

He was never going to wait again.

**Jenny**

She sat in the corner of two buildings, shadow obscuring her face. It had been a long time since she'd scryed – let alone tried to make up a new spell. But she just needed to focus.

_Julian… where is he?_ A quick vision surfaced – Julian still looking otherworldly and ethereal, though his face was thinner and smudged with dirt and blood. What had he been doing to get himself bloody?

Jenny hesitated. She was still wary of coming into any contact with the people she cared about – she couldn't shake the feeling that something would go wrong – but she reached out nonetheless, simply touching his mind. No words for the moment.

She felt a jolt as he recognized her presence. _Jenny! Jenny, are you all right?_

His voice – even his mental one – made up her mind for her. _Oh, God, Julian, you have no idea… where are you? I'm coming there RIGHT NOW! _

A weary laugh from his end, as he looked around enough for her to get an idea of the stretch of forest he was in – though they all looked the same, she could sense him properly now.

In another second, there was a slight puff of displaced air as she rematerialized two hundred miles away, already looking for his face. It was paler and thinner than it had been, but so heartachingly familiar that she practically threw herself into his arms, knocking them into a tree.

"Julian! I should shake sense into you!"

He laughed in amazement, blue eyes wide. "I could say the same –" but he was cut off as Jenny pressed her lips to his. "Never. Do. That. Again," she said, punctuating with kisses. "Ever."

A melodious laugh. "I should do this more often, if this is the result I get." He pulled her to her feet. "And you aren't off scot-free, either."

She winced, remembering. He smiled dangerously. "Jenny. No matter what happens, no matter what you do, I'm not going to let you vanish on some crazy" – he kissed her – "harebrained" – another kiss – "scheme to keep us safe."

She nodded. "Agreed. So long as you don't forget that you're human, Julian. How long has it been since you've eaten or slept? And don't change the subject."

He looked slightly guilty. She took that to mean "a long time."

"Julian," she sighed, "you. Aren't. Immortal. And if you let that go on for too long, you'd have died." She _poof_ed a loaf of bread, looked at it, and shrugged. "It'll do. Eat this while I talk."

He took it and looked at her, waiting. She made a 'go on and eat it' face, and only when he had ripped away a piece and placed it in his mouth did she start talking. Jenny caught him up to everything that had happened since Tom's arrival at her house.

"So Tom is here, trying to find you. There's some woman who suspects something. I have no idea what our parents think."

Julian nodded, then smirked. "So what are we going to do about it?"


	22. Anything

***Ariadne creeps out into the open, looks around, ducks back into safety* Sorry! No updates! I know, I know, I should have written more. Really. All I can say is, you know, life… school, classes, a terrible case of writers block… Sorry!**

**Same old disclaimer!**

**Thanks as usual go to bloodyxfangs, mandidawna, and pearlpinkwings07 – for sticking with me even with my piteous lack of updates. And to Julianslittleshadowgirl – team Julian all the way!**

Tom was pacing the alley between two buildings, thinking quickly. It seemed that after a while, the quest for Julian had surrounded him, becoming his whole life. It was unimaginable to give up now.

Not a chance. How could he have been so stupid, not forcing the answers out of the girl when he had had the opportunity? Now he had to resort to tracking them, relying on those useless police.

Though Tom did think that his story about Jenny starting the fire was a nice touch.

The police were as yet hopeless. It wasn't as though they didn't believe him – they just didn't think that one missing girl was worth a search yet.

This was going nowhere. He paced across cobblestones. If he had only… but there was no time for if onlys.

Whirling again, he missed the sight of shadows solidifying into a shape, leaning against the graffitied wall. Only when a quiet voice spoke did he look up.

"Well. What have we here?"

Tom glanced up in shock at the otherworldly voice. After all his troubles, could his quarry really have come to him? But no. Instead of blue eyes, the strangers' were dark ebony, darker than Dee's, like black holes. Hair a similar shade was cropped short. Tom shivered, recognizing the young man as Shadow.

"What do you want?" He glared, not really considering being afraid. There were more important things to do. "You should all be gone."

"Gone is… relative," laughed the Shadow Man. "After all, eight of us dead only means eight of us born anew." He – it – flashed pointed teeth in a smile. "But I think the real question is – what do _you_ want, Tommy? I believe the two are the same."

"I want Julian back where he belongs," hissed Tom, without bothering to consider.

"Then my suspicions were correct." The creature sounded entirely bored, not pleased or even angry. "We agree with you. He would be… useful as an example."

Tom nodded. "Just out of our world. Soon."

The creature raised its brows. "Soon… and what would you be willing to pay for that privilege?"

Again, he didn't even stop to consider. "Anything."


	23. Choice

**Yes. Yes, I know. I am the most scatterbrained, lazy writer on the planet. How long has it been? A week? With nothing? **

**I've been so busy – writing for contests & international stuff, then just school… "free time" is a myth to me. And this is generally what occupies my free time. **

**But, since you've waited too long already – **

**I own nothing, I disclaim everything!**

"Anything." repeated the shadow. "Well. You will know what our price is when the time comes."

Tom nodded. Anything for his vengeance. For revenge. To get rid of Julian for good.

"Be warned, Tommy. You'll get what you ask for – exactly what you ask for." With that, it turned on its heel and vanished, black eyes the last to disappear into darkness.

They flashed in a predatory grin that sent shivers of fear and disgust down his spine. He grimaced in shock.

But he could get what he needed. No matter the cost.

Tom allowed himself a smile for the first time in days.

~0~0~0~

Jenny racked her brain, as determinedly focused as it was possible to be with Julian only a few inches away.

She sighed. "Tom isn't going to give up, no matter what." Julian nodded.

Jenny knew this was true. But she hated the idea that, even though they had once been on the same side, it was either them or him. Tom could win, and hurt them, or they could win, and hurt Tom. There was no compromise, no middle ground, no way back to what they were.

It was him or them now.

Julian pulled her closer to his side. "He isn't going to just stop, Jenny. We need to do something – to save us both." It was the truth, and Jenny knew it.

In fact, she could see no way out but for Tom to die.

Die… _die_. She'd had enough death. Could she really be a murderer? Of the boy she used to love? But Tom alive would mean that she would lose the thing she cared for most in the world. He was beyond reason.

The choice was the hardest she'd made – but she'd made it before thinking about it.

"Yes, Julian. For both of us."


	24. Illusion

***sticks head out into open, sees horde of irritated readers, flinches***

**I am SO sorry. Family stuff that required being out of state with no wifi… but I really have no excuse. **

**Thank yous to everyone who has stuck with me even with my disappearance.**

**JuliansLittleShadowGirl – I would LOVE that! Though I think the link in your review was taken out – try it with spaces between the letters, it might work better then.**

**And without further ado and apologies…**

Jenny and Julian were deep in thought and almost entirely unsuspecting when they almost died. In fact, if it hadn't been for Jenny's extra senses and Julian's faster-than-human reflexes, they would have.

They were talking quietly, planning, when Jenny suddenly straightened, eyes wide. Julian was by her side in a second.

"Jenny? What is it?"

She shook her head, eyes narrowed. "I don't know… there's something wrong. Something isn't right." Almost automatically, she readied her mind in case they had to fight.

But Jenny couldn't fight what she couldn't see.

And this qualified.

She should have known, she thought later. The Shadow Men were notorious for not attacking outright. Instead, they attacked from within your own mind.

Jenny heard the crackle of flame. Smelled the tang of smoke. As she whirled to face it, it seemed to vanish, and she stopped in confusion.

Her moment of hesitation was almost her undoing. Taloned hands pulled across her face, and she screamed, trying to turn. Julian's strong arms pulled her to the ground as she frantically tried to see their attacker.

There was nothing. No sound. No sight.

Warm blood was trickling down her cheek and neck, Jenny realized with a jolt. Julian sucked in a breath as he gently brushed it away, so softly it didn't hurt. To add to Jenny's consternation, she realized that if she hadn't turned her head… the claws would have neatly severed her head from her body.

She shivered, still in Julian's arms.

"Illusions that are real," he sighed. "Someone definitely wants us dead."


	25. Vision

**Okay, guys. I know how long it's been. Really. And I won't blame you if you're giving me the silent treatment. But… be nice? **

**I own nothing as usual.**

After their near-death experience, the two didn't dare stay in the woods. As Julian reminded her when she flagged, they needed to keep moving. They needed to find Tom. Only then could they stop.

The no-longer-quite-Shadow-Man and the no-longer-quite-human wandered, retracing their steps. First the city where she had been treated. Then the old forest where the fire had broken out.

As they went, he taught Jenny more of how to control her powers, trying harder and harder tasks. Finally, he was forced to concede that there was little else to teach, and she was forced to concede that there was little more to learn.

It was a little dizzying, she mused a few days in, to think that there was almost nothing she could not do. An old saying about absolute power… A bit of bitter irony struck her when she realized that the only thing she couldn't do was scry Tom. Whenever she tried, she either saw black mist or simple darkness.

So Jenny wasn't expecting much when she closed her eyes again, resting in Julian's arms.

However, life never lived up to her expectations.

Her eyes opened, only to see a familiar – and unwelcome – face. Tom! Jenny fought to stay silent, though she wanted to yelp in triumph. She couldn't break the connection now.

"I told you, you weren't supposed to go after the girl," He was grumbling. His surroundings were undefined, but she was a step closer nonetheless.

A boy that seemed to be woven of darkness answered him, the mist swirling around his face. Jenny shivered. "You said you didn't care."

"I _said_ kill the boy, leave the girl!"

Another voice broke in, and she recognized the woman from the hospital. "Leave it, it doesn't matter now. We have to plan this out better." Her face was cold – almost more so than the Shadow Man's, though she was nothing but human. "Boy, don't presume to tell us how to do our work."

Tom scowled but fell silent.

"After all, you still have a price to pay. Now, I believe it's time to continue with our plan…"

And Jenny's eyes snapped open.


	26. Guide

**Hey, everyone. {blushes} I have an apology I definitely owe you…**

**I know it's been a year. I was just dealing with a lot of stuff at the time, and had too much on my plate to really work on this fic... though there aren't any excuses for how long this took.  
>Can you forgive me? I'm telling the truth when I say I really never meant for it to take this long to return…<strong>

**Just like old times, my friends, I don't own The Forbidden Game. ;)**

Immediately, she sat up, blinking enough to bring her surroundings into better focus. She opened her mouth, then reclosed it, trying to find words.

Julian seemed to understand immediately. "What did you see?"

Carefully, she recounted all she could remember, in as much detail as possible. "I think he's made some sort of bargain with them. For your life," she added. "Or he wants you to go back to being Shadow…"

He nodded. "I expected as much." A hesitation fell between them, and Jenny looked at the ground. _I don't want to kill him_. The thought came unbidden to her mind, and she didn't try to keep it from Julian. _I might not love him, but I don't want to kill him_.

Julian briefly took her hand. "If you did," he said, startling her a bit, "You wouldn't be my Jenny. I, on the other hand…"

"Don't," she said abruptly. "I need to do this. We need to find him, we need to fight him, we need to keep ourselves alive. And it needs to be me."

He nodded, slowly. "You can handle yourself. But even so, we can't fight this one on our terms. It's whenever they make another attempt on my life." Neither of them said what was in their minds - there was no way of knowing when to expect that.

~0~0~0~0~

The attack came the next sunset. Imagery, again, distracted Jenny before she could even cry out. Pictures behind her eyelids that made no sense – rather like the nightmares she was no stranger to – distracted her for a moment. Then she screamed a warning to Julian.

There was chaos around her, she realized dimly, but she wasn't sure if it was all in her head or if there was a physical battle. Like a whirlwind… but she didn't have time to think of whirlwinds. Instead, she took the thread of power that she felt. After all, these images were a spell – they had to have some fuel, didn't they? And this fuel was in the power of whoever originated it…

It was dark, and almost noxious, the sort of evil that had made her recoil when she saw it in the other Shadow Men. But she had no intention of letting it go, not now. Instead, she reached for Julian's hand, somewhere near her in the chaos of her world, and the two of them were pulled into nothingness, the cord of power their guide.


End file.
